I Cantari di Rinaldo da Montealbano. In ottava rima, from the late 1300’s. Crticial edition by Elio Melli in 1973 under the title I Cantari di Rinaldo da Monte Albano.

El Inamoramento de Rinaldo da Monte Albano. The aforesaid Cantari, with the story of Fierabras interpolated, a prologue dealing with the feud of Aymon and Ginamo of Baiona added, and many episodes lengthened. Also printed under the title of Rinaldo Innamorato, and in either case usually with a very long subtitle.

Prose Rinaldo. Probably by Andrea da Barberino, though this cannot be proved.

Rinaldo, by Torquato Tasso. In ottava rima. Translated into English couplets by John Hoole, whom Scott notoriously described as “a noble transmuter of gold into lead.” More recently translated into ottava rima by Max Wickert.

I CANTARI DI RINALDO DA MONTE ALBANO

The oldest and best version is in a MS known as palatino 364, of the Bib. Naz. di Firenze. There are three other versions, each of which expand the first section (up to the chessboard-murder) in their own unique ways. R: a manuscript fragment which ends just before the ambush of Buovo, Cod. Riccardiano 683. a: a printed edition without title or date, probably from 1479, British Museum, Printed Books G 11352. b: the first (surviving) printing of El Inamoramento de Rinaldo da Monte Albano, from which all other printings are descended. After the chessboard-murder these three versions all follow Pal closely, with the exception of b’s interpolation of Fierabras before the beginning of the war against Monte Albano. Since b is the ancestor of all other versions, they are known as the beta family. a is most likely related to the prose version in the Laurenzian library.

PALATINO 364

Charlemagne holds court at Paris, when Ginamo of Baiona tells Amone that he [Ginamo] has cuckolded him [Amone], and that all four of his [Amone’s] sons are actually Ginamo’s. Amone, furious, heads for Dordona, but Orlando, Astolfo, Ulivieri, and Namo send messengers ahead of him to warn the Duchess, who flees with her sons Alardo, Rinaldo, Guicciardo and Ricciardetto to Monte Ermino [Montherme]. Rinaldo swears to clear his mother’s name.

Amone is son of Bernardo of Chiaramonte, and his brothers are Girado of Ronsiglione, Milon d’Angrante [Orlando’s father], King Otto of England, [Astolfo’s father], Duodo of Antonia [Doon de Nanteuil?] and Buovo of Agrismonte. Buovo and his wife Smeragda were long childless, and so went on pilgrimage to Saint James. Smeragda became pregnant, and gave birth to twin boys. However, they were still in Spain at the time, and their train was attacked by King Avilante. Only Buovo and his wife escaped, and their children were left behind in the rout. King Avilante finds the one, adopts him and names him Viviano. The other is found by the Queen of Belfiore, who happens to be passing by some days later. She finds him “mal giacere” [lying ill: that is, alone], names him Malagigi, and teaches him magic. By his magic, he grows up to win Baiardo, whom he finds in a grotto with a hauberk, a helmet, and the sword Frusberta. He slays the deadly serpent that guards them, and claims them. Since, by his magic, he knows who his family are and the peril they are in, he takes leave of his foster-mother and pretends to be a merchant. He sells his cousins Baiardo, saying that no bastard can sit on this wonderful horse. Rinaldo, reassured by his mother, buys the beast, after which Malagigi reveals his identity and departs. The brethren ride to Paris with their train. Ginamo meets them on the way and claims to be their father, but they defy him, and battle is joined. The brethren slay Ginamo, who is carried to his castle, where his sons Ramondo and Beltramo mourn him. Although the Sons are reconciled with their father, Charles banishes them from Christendom for three years for killing Ginamo. As they leave, Gano secretly follows to ambush them. Luckily, Orlando is suspicious, and rides with his other cousins after them, finding them just after Gano’s men have leapt out of the bushes. Gano has concealed his insignia, but Rinaldo gives him an ugly cut through his helmet. Gano flees when Orlando arrives, still unknown. The Duchess returns to Dordona with Amone, and Rinaldo takes up residence in Monte Ermino, deciding to lay low instead of actually leaving. Gano returns to court, where he pretends he had a hunting accident. Orlando is suspicious, but can prove nothing.

The legend of the martyrdom of Renaud of Montauban, or Rinaldo, is found in two stand-alone versions, besides those at the end of the Quatre Fils Aymon.

For editions of the Quatre Fils, see my other posts. A complete synoptic version of the martyrdom exists as a thesis at the University of Ghent but will likely never be printed. Support copyright reform!

Vita Sancti Reinoldi Rythmice. A Latin saint’s life in verse, printed by Joseph Floss in Annalen des historischen Vereins für den Niederrhein, inbesondere das alte Erzdiöcese Köln, Volume 30, 1876, pages 185-203. Clearly from the Dutch, as evidenced by the names of the brethern, their mother’s being the sister of Charles, Clarice being Yon’s daughter, and Renaud’s slaying of three sultans in the Holy Land.

La Quatre Fils Aymon – Original

According to the Quatre Fils, the penitent Renaud, after seeing his two sons established in their patrimony, wanders for a time in the forest, occasionally staying at a monastery, until he comes to Cologne, where he offers his services to the masons who are building the Church of Saint Peter. Renaud lifts a stone which four other men cannot carry, does more work than ten other men can do, and only accepts enough wages as will buy him bread to eat and straw to sleep on. This goes on for some time, until the other masons, growing jealous, kill him and throw his body into the Rhine. But all the fish of the river hold the body up, and at nightfall torches appear around it and angels begin to sing. The murderers confess and are pardoned, and the archbishop goes to fetch the body, brings it into the church, and sings Mass over it. After the Mass, Renaud’s body is miraculously carried out of the church, and into a cart, which travels of its own accord from Cologne to Tremoigne, where all the sick who seek him are made whole. According to DN and the Dutch, the corpse went straight from Cologne to Tremoigne. According to LC, it stopped in Ceoigne for the night before proceeding to Tremoigne. According to POA and the French prose, it stopped at Ceoigne and went no farther.

In DN, the masons drop a stone from a scaffold onto Renaud’s head as he humbly eats his poor bread. In all other versions, French, Dutch and Latin, they kill him with their hammers or pickaxes. Castets, who thought L was the oldest version, suspected that the variance was due to a confusion between martel meaning hammer and marteau meaning stone block. Perhaps he is right, or perhaps, since D is actually the oldest, he had the matter backwards, and Hunaud I who was killed lapidibus [by stones] became Renaud who was killed, lapicidus [by stonemasons], with a hammer.

The Prose Life of Saint Reinold

The prose Vita Sancti Reinoldi, monachi et martyris completely ignores its hero’s military career. It makes briefly alludes to his wars against Charlemagne, but never makes mention of his horse Baiard, or of his cousin Maugis the enchanter or of his sons Aymonet and Yonnet. It alludes to the fame of the four brothers [whom it does not name] being celebrated in the songs of the people, but that is all. By contrast, the Vita recounts several miracles of Reinold which are not to be found in the Quatre Fils. The writer claims Reinold, after a knightly career, joined a monastery [which one is not specified] in Cologne. While he was still a monk, God answered his prayers by curing a man who had been born blind, and a boy who was sick with a dangerous fever. After these things, by devout prayer he obtained from God the end of a pestilence that was ravaging the country. His fame spread, and songs were sung about him. At his abbot’s orders, he was put in charge of the stonemasons. He continued to visit churches and to devoutly give alms, besides working harder than any of the men under his command. The other masons, excited by jealousy, broke his skull with a hammer, and threw him into the Rhine. Angels bore his soul to heaven. The abbot, searching for the body, could not find it. However, an old and infirm woman had a dream in which she was told to go the river, where blessed Reinold is buried. Upon awakening, she did so and was healed. The monks took his body to the Church and honored him as a saint. Sometime later, the cities of Tremoigne and Clerum [apparently Ceoigne] both wished to have some of the relics of Reinold, and the Archbishop was unsure which to give them to. The Lord indicated Tremoigne [how we are not told], and Reinold’s body was carried thither, without a miracle, but accompanied by three thousand rejoicing citizens. He was laid to rest there on the seventh of January. God continues to work miracles there. The blind have been cured, lepers cleansed and paralytics restored.

There are no dates given whatsoever. The suggestion of the Bollandists that the Archbishop who oversaw the translation of the relics was St. Anno II (r. 1056-1075) is no more than a guess.

The Verse Life of Saint Reinold

The verse Vita Sancti Reynoldi is accompanied in the manuscript by a prose commentary which mostly repeats the same story but sometimes adds new details. The poem tells how Adelhardus, Ritzardus, Reynoldus, and Writardus were Frenchmen, born at Dorduna to Heymon and Aya, daughter of Pipin and sister of King Charles. The four were mighty men of war. Reynoldus was a Catholic man and a great warrior who was filled with virtue and the fear of God and wished to renounce the world. He called his sons and divided his property among them and his wife Claritia, (who is here the daughter, not the sister, of King Ivonis of Tarascon). He leaves the castle of Montalban to his son Emericus, and departs for the wilderness. His father, mother and brothers pursue him but cannot find him. For three years he serves God in the wilderness, until he hears a voice from God telling him to go fight the infidels in Jerusalem. He does so, slaying three Sultans with only a staff. He then returns home, briefly visits Charlemagne’s court, and then goes to Cologne, where Agilolphus (r. 713-717) is bishop. (A medieval note in the manuscript suggests Riolphus (r. 768-782) as the proper reading). Reynoldus lives such a holy life that he cures the blind, dumb, and possessed. The “magister claustri” [abbot] appoints him to oversee the stonemasons. He works harder than any of them, which arouses their envy, and so they kill him. This is the fourteenth of May, the year 800, according to the prose gloss. Reynoldus, now enjoying the beatific vision, appears to a paralytic woman and heals her, and some time afterward an angel shows where his body is lying, and on the third of September it is drawn out of the river and put on display in a church in Cologne, where God cures many more people through it. The people of Tremoigne wish to have the body, and their request is granted. The body is laid in a cart, which moves of its own accord to Tremoigne. The people of Tremoigne build a church for him, whither Charlemagne comes to mourn his nephew.

OTHER VERSIONS

Outside of the chanson, the oldest explicit reference to Renaud of Montauban as a saint is to be found in the work of Alberic of Trois-Fontaines, writing around the year 1232. According to Alberic, Renaldus, Alardus, Richardus, and Guichardus were the four sons of Haymo [Aymon] and of a sister of Charlemagne’s. Saint Renaldus was the oldest of the four, became a monk in the abbey of Saint Pantaleon at Cologne, was there martyred [how is not specified], and is now buried in Tremoigne. Alberic relates their history as a brief aside during a list of Charlemagne’s warriors who accompanied him into Spain in the year 805. He never mentions it elsewhere, so it is unclear what year he thought the martyrdom occurred.

In a ninth century missal from the Cathedral of Cologne, someone has written in tenth century handwriting the names “reginoldi” and “reginoldo” on the margins of the Collect and Postcommunion of the Mass of a martyr. Unfortunately, nothing is known about this saint. The names are all that were thus written, and the prayers themselves are the generic ones from the common of martyrs, and therefore shed no light on how this Reginoldus died. However, he is almost certainly the same saint still venerated today. Paul Fiebig, whose St. Reinoldus in Kult, Liturgie und Kunst is still the definitive book on the cult of St. Reinolt, lists all the other saints he could find named Renaud or something similar, but none of them was a martyr or lived in the 900’s or earlier.

Vita Sancti Reinoldi Rythmice. A Latin saint’s life in verse, printed by Joseph Floss in Annalen des historischen Vereins für den Niederrhein, inbesondere das alte Erzdiöcese Köln, Volume 30, 1876, pages 185-203. Clearly from the Dutch, as evidenced by the names of the brethern, their mother being the sister of Charles, Clarice being Yon’s daughter, and Renaud’s slaying of three sultans in the Holy Land.

De Historie van den vier Heemskindern. Dutch prose adaptation, 1508. This is the ancestor of the Dutch and German chapbooks. Edition: De Historie van den vier Heemskindern editor G. S. Overdiep, 1931, available for free online from the Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren.

In 1619 a censored edition, expunging passages considered contrary to morals and the Catholic Faith, received the imprimatur and became the standard version in the Catholic Low Countries. The Protestants continued to print the old version. The censored version was used in Dutch schools well into the twentieth century, and thus escaped the corruptions of the popular French versions.

Die vier Heymons Kinder. German prose adaptiation of 1604. The standard German edition and ancestor of the German chapbooks.

Adelhardus, Ritzardus, Reynoldus, and Writardus were Frenchmen, born at Dorduna to Heymon and Aya, daughter of Pipin and sister of King Charles. The four were mighty men of war. Reynoldus was a Catholic man and a great warrior who was filled with virtue and the fear of God and wished to renounce the world. He called his sons and divided his property among them and his wife Claritia, daughter of King Ivonis of Tarascon. He leaves the castle of Montalban to his son Emericus and departs for the wilderness. His father, mother and brothers pursue but cannot find him. For three years he serves God in the wilderness until he hears a voice from God telling him to go fight the infidels in Jerusalem. He does so, slaying three Sultans with only a staff. He then returns home, briefly visits Charlemagne’s court [we are not told why], and then goes to Cologne, where Agilolphus (r. 713-717) is bishop. (A medieval note in the manuscript suggests that Riolphus (r. 768-782) is the proper reading). Reynoldus lives such a holy life that he cures the blind, dumb, and possessed. The “magister claustri” [abbot] appoints him to oversee the stonemasons. He works harder than any of them, which arouses their envy, and so they kill him. This is the fourteenth of May, the year 800, according to the prose gloss. Reynoldus, now enjoying the beatific vision, appears to a paralytic woman and heals her. Some time afterward an angel shows where his body is lying, and on the third of September it is drawn out of the river and put on display in a church in Cologne, where God cures many more people through it. The people of Tremoigne wish to have the body, and their request is granted. The body is laid in a cart, which moves of its own accord to Tremoigne. The people of Tremoigne build a church for him, whither Charlemagne comes to mourn his nephew.

DUTCH PROSE

One version of the Dutch prose (my source does not specify which) has the masons kill Reinolt with a rock, instead of their hammers, as is usual in this family. The Catholic versions removed Malegys’ magical escapes from prison, and changed Turpin from a bishop to an ordinary knight. The Catholic version was used for centuries to teach children to read, and its status as a textbook preserved it from the corruptions of its French chapbook cousins.

GERMAN CHAPBOOK

The German prose of 1604 lays especial emphasis on the Catholic practices of the knights, owing to the Counter-Reformation. I cannot find whether it censored the antics of Malegys and Turpin or not. It became the standard German version, and the ancestor of the chapbooks, about which I can find no further details.

HISTORIE VAN SENT REINOLT

The story begins as a mere summary of the Dutch-German poem, omitting such details as Reinolt’s treatment of his father, with no indication of Reinolt’s eventual sanctity until his pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The death of Hugh of Dordonne is said to be in 800. The bishop of Cologne is identified as Agiliolphus. Reinolt is canonized by Pope Leo. [Pope St. Leo III r. 795-816]. This version found its way into various German copies of the Golden Legend and was translated into Latin.

ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THIS FAMILY

A few scholars hold that the Dutch poem represents an earlier form of the legend than that preserved in the French Quatre Fils. Most however, consider it a late offshoot. Among the reasons for regarding te Dutch poem as late are: The Dutch poem is neater, and appears interested in tying up loose ends. It has been influenced by the Geste d’Orange, such as in Charles’ intention to abdicate and the appearance of William of Orange and Aymeri of Narbonne. Reinolt serves a Saracen king, an action wholly out of character for a future saint. Malegys is a mere slapstick wonder-worker, as is typical of later texts, instead of the chivalrous knight who happens to know magic of the Quatre Fils. The flight of Reinolt to “Arden” after the fall of Montauban is clearly an attempt to combine the sieges of Montessor and Tremoigne, and the poet later on (in the martyrdom section) introduces Tremoigne out of the blue as a city closely connected to Reinolt.

Vita Sancti Reinoldi Rythmice. A Latin saint’s life in verse, printed by Joseph Floss in Annalen des historischen Vereins für den Niederrhein, inbesondere das alte Erzdiöcese Köln, Volume 30, 1876, pages 185-203. Clearly from the Dutch, as evidenced by the names of the brethern, their mother being the sister of Charles, Clarice being Yon’s daughter, and Renaud’s slaying of three sultans in the Holy Land.

De Historie van den vier Heemskindern. Dutch prose adaptation, 1508. This is the ancestor of the Dutch and German chapbooks. Edition: De Historie van den vier Heemskindern editor G. S. Overdiep, 1931, available for free online from the Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren.

In 1619 a censored edition, expunging passages considered contrary to morals and the Catholic Faith, received the imprimatur and became the standard version in the Catholic Low Countries. The Protestants continued to print the old version. The censored version was used in Dutch schools well into the twentieth century, and thus escaped the corruptions of the popular French versions.

Die vier Heymons Kinder. German prose adaptiation of 1604. The standard German edition and ancestor of the German chapbooks.

The German Reinolt von Montelban is a very close adaptation of the Dutch, as far as anyone can tell. Since it is complete, and the Dutch is fragmentary, we will give a summary of the German as our base.

Charlemagne holds court at Pentecost, to which come Heyme [Aymon], Eymerich von Narbonne [Aymeri], and their nephew Hugh of Dordonne. Hugh asks Karl to requite his uncles for their long service. Charles cuts his head off. This begins a war that lasts sixteen years, in which the rebels are aided by Maugis. At last Charles makes peace by giving his sister Aye to Aymon in marriage. Nonetheless, Aymon swears that he will kill any of Charles’ relatives he finds. This leads Aye to conceal her four pregnancies, which produce Ritzart, Fritzart, Adelhart, and Reinolt. Meanwhile, Charles has a son, Ludwig [Louis the Pious]. When these five lads are of age to bear arms, Charles holds court at Pentecost again, to which Aymon does not come. Charles sends Roland, William of Orange, Bertram, and Bernard to summon him. At his castle, the talk turns to heirs, and Aymon laments his childlessness after thirty years of marriage. Aye sounds his feelings, and reveals that he actually has four sons. Aymon dubs his sons knights and gives them horses. Reinolt tests his horses by punching them in the head and kills three, before his father says he will have to have Beyart, who has the strength of nine horses, and is the son of a “dromedarius”, born on St. John’s Day. Reinolt and Beyart have a brutal fight, but Reinolt masters him. He is white behind and before, but his head has spots like a leopard’s. After this, Charles announces that he is going to crown Ludwig his heir and co-emperor. At the feast, Ludwig, urged on by the traitors Gavelon, Hardrich, and Macharius, insults the Sons at every turn, but they best him at the games and sports. Finally, Ludwig and Adelhart wager their heads on a game of chess. Ludwig wins three games, but Reinolt draws Adelhart away. They confront Ludwig later on in the hall, before King Charles. They behead Ludwig, and the Four Sons flee on Beyart. Aymon at first fights for them against the pursuing knights, but he is reconciled with Charlemagne. The Sons briefly stop by their castle of Pierlepont before fleeing south, to take service with King Safforet of Spain. After three years, in all which time they are not paid, they quarrel with him, cut his head off, and present it to his foe, King Yves of Dardone. They conquer Safforet’s kingdom for Yves, and live in peace in Dardone for seven years. Charles hears news of them, and sends threats, but Yves scoffs and gives his daughter Claradys to Reinolt and helps him build the castle of Montelban on the Gironde.

Charles goes on pilgrimage with Roland to St. James, and sees Montelban on the way. He lays siege to it for a year, but is forced to retreat. Reinolt now wishes to go see his mother, whom he has not seen for seven years. The Four Sons trade clothes with pilgrims and go to Dordone in secret. Aye receives them gladly. Aymon, however, is not present. He returns with his army, and attacks his Sons. Reinolt cuts off his hand, nose, and mouth, trusses him up on a horse, and sends him to Charles, who lays siege. Starvation threatens, so Aye sends the three oldest barefoot to Charles to ask mercy. He siezes them and plans to hang them at Monfaucon. Reinolt hurries to Montelban and returns riding Beyart. He offers to give Charles a life-size gold statue of Ludwig and to spend seven years Crusading with his brothers, if Charles will make peace. Otherwise he will lay France waste and behead Charles just like Ludwig. Charles chooses war.

Reinolt, distressed and wondering how to rescue his brothers, falls asleep in the woods. Beyart wanders off looking for food, and is captured by some of Charles’ men. The king gives him to Roland, who promises a lady that he will not ride the steed until Sunday. The army returns to Paris.

Reinolt awakens and despairs. Malegys, Reinolt’s “uncle” [perhaps just meaning “older relative”], arrives in disguise as an ancient pilgrim, and teases Reinolt before revealing himself. Four passing monks tell Malegys about Roland then murders four passing monks and steals their clothes. The two, disguised as monks, ride to Paris, where the abbot of “their” abbey tells them of Charles’ plans for a feast and the execution of Reinolt’s brethren. Malegys disguises Reinolt as a blind man, and the two of them wait for Charles to pass by, with Roland and Beyart. Malegys tells Charles that a wise woman told him that if a blind man sits on Beyart, he will recover his sight. Charles obligingly lets Reinolt sit on the horse, and Reinolt gallops off. Malegys reveals himself and escapes. Charles wishes to hang Reinolt’s brothers immediately, before anything else goes wrong, but the Peers oppose him, and they compromise on hanging the brothers at dawn. At midnight, however, Malegys by magic opens the prison and rescues them, stopping to taunt Charles (who thinks he’s dreaming), tell him they’ll be waiting for him at Montelban, and steal his crown and sword.

Word comes that King Assys’ Saracens are besieging Cologne, so Roland and the peers go and kill them. Charles decides Roland needs a horse worthy of him, and holds a horse race, offering his crown to the winner. Malegys and Reinolt go in disguise, win, reveal themselves, and leave with the crown, scorning Charles’ attempts to ransom it for a hundred-day truce.

When Easter comes around again, Charles sends four mules laden with gold to Yves, ordering him to betray the brothers or else. Yves succombs at once, without even consulting his barons, and agrees to send the brothers to Falcolon [Vaucoleurs], without armor and without Beyart. He goes to Montelban and arranges the treason, claiming that he can’t embrace Reinolt or eat his food because of his headache. Claradys is suspicious, but Reinolt slaps her for believing in dreams and insulting her own father. The brothers go to Falcolon, where they are ambushed by Fauke von Morlyon and Ogier. Reinolt splits Fauke’s head open with Florsberg, Rizhart is sorely wounded, Reinolt duels Ogier on foot, and their horses fight each other, and finally the brothers take refuge on a tall, defendable, rock. Malegys comes to the rescue, and the cousins return to Montelban, whence Yves flees to the cloister of Beaurepar. Rizhart reconciles Reinolt and Claradys.

Ogier, meanwhile, returns to camp, and thinks Yves must have sent Malegys. The Twelve Peers attack Beaurepar, intending to hang the king for his alleged double-treason. Reinolt comes and rescues him. Charles lays siege to Montelban. Rizhart is captured by Roland and taken with the army all the way back to Paris. but none of the Peers are willing to hang him except Rippe. Rizhart is led out to Montefaucon to be hanged, but Malegys has been spying in Paris disguised as a pilgrim, and returns with the brothers, who hang Rippe instead, kill his men, and dress Rizhard in his armor. Charles and Ogier, meanwhile, are at the palace, when “Rippe” returns. Charles comes out to meet him, Rizhard reveals himself, and his brothers leap out of ambush. A melee ensues. As the two sides are withdrawing, Olivier spots an old pilgrim hobbling away, realizes it must be Malegys, and captures him. The Peers are inclined to treat him well at dinner, but Charles chains him in the dungeon and sets the Peers to guard him. At midnight, he puts them to sleep, steals their swords, and escapes. Reinolt, meanwhile, has had a dream of Malegys being hanged, and rides to his castle to check on him. He is not there, so Reinolt goes to Paris, where he meets Malegys, who has handily escaped and is now carrying twelve swords. They return to Montelban.

Charles pursues with his army, and the siege resumes. Peace negotiations break down, and Charles captures Malegys again. At midnight, Malegys escapes, carries Charles off to Montelban, and departs. Charles will not make peace unless Malegys is executed, and Reinolt cannot hand over his cousin and will not execute his sovereign, so he sets him free, and the siege resumes. Everyone starves except the brothers and Claradys [Yves has vanished from the scene, and Reinolt’s children are not mentioned but are presumably here]. They eat all the horses save Beyart, but they bleed him and survive on his blood for forty days. At last, they are forced to flee. Beyart carries the Four Sons (they leave Claradys [and the unmentioned children] behind) to their castle in Arden, whither Charles pursues them. Duchess Aye persuades the emperor to make peace, but he insists on executing Beyart. Charles ties a millstone around the horse’s neck and throws him in the river, but he sees Reinolt, bursts the stone, and rushes to his side. Charles throws him back in with a millstone on each leg, and he escapes again. Charles forbids Reinolt to watch the execution, and this time Beyart escapes to the wood, never to be seen again. Reinolt returns home to Montelban, dubs his eldest son Emmerich a knight, and gives him the castle as his fief. He then departs on pilgrimage.

He spends three years in a hermitage, until a heavenly voice tells him to go to the Holy Land. He meets some knights sent by Pope Calixtus, and travels with them from Tripoli to Acre. There he finds Malegys, who has been living as a hermit in Galilee. The two of them slay a Sultan, but two more Sultans comewith nine champions. They conquer Nazareth and Jerusalem, slaying many Christians. Malegys is slain fighting them, but Reinolt single-handedly saves the day, and turns the whole land back to Christianity. The Patriarch wishes to crown him king, but Reinolt refuses and sails home to Marseilles. When he arrives, he learns that his son Emmerich is to fight a duel with Count Willam of Romelion in Paris. He goes to Paris, in disguise, and informs the king of the wars in the Holy Land and of Malegys’ death. Gavelon and Pynapel arrange for Pynapel’s eldest son Galleran to fight on William’s behalf, but Emmerich still wins. Reinolt now wanders to Cologne, where he joins the laborers on St. Peter’s Church. He works harder than anyone, but only takes a penny a day for wages. The others, jealous, kill him with their hammers and throw his body in the Rhine, tied up in a sack. Although it is the middle of the night when they do this, they hear a sweet sound and see as clearly as if it were day. An old widow who has been fourteen years lame, blind, and deaf has a dream telling her to go down to the river and to draw out the man’s body in a sack which she will find there. She has herself taken to the river bank, is cured upon seeing the sack, and drags it to land. On the body is a costly girdle, which reads “I am Reinolt von Montelban”. The people of Dorpmund hear tell of this, and wish to have the body, which the bishop of Cologne refuses to grant. But when it is laid in a cart, the cart moves of itself and travels all the way to Dorpmund, obliging the bishop to give in. Charles hears tell of his nephew’s death and threatens to raze Cologne. He settles for hanging the murderers. He then goes to Dorpmund and weeps over his nephew’s body. Saint Reinolt, pray for us, and all say Amen.

Some time in the fifteenth century, the Quatre Fils Aymon was completely reworked into a new version which was entirely in rhyme. This version, like the original, was turned into prose later on, but the prose has never been printed.

B: London BM Royal 16 G II. Also known as R or as Bm. The beginning of the manuscript down to Charlemagne’s learning that the Four Sons are living in Montessor is in verse, the rest is a mise en prose (known as Bm) of the traditional versions, until the death of Renaud, after which the death of Maugis is in verse. Around 1450.

R: Paris Bib. Nat. fr. 764. Formerly known as N. Within two decades of 1440. Printed by Philippe Verelst, under the title “Renaut de Montauban. Édition critique du ms. de Paris, B.N., fr. 764 (“R”)”. 1988.

MANUSCRIPT R: BIB. NAT. FR. 764 (ROIS DE FRANCE)

Containing Renaud de Montauban.

Completely reworked, but follows the same basic plot until the siege of Tremoigne. Minor characters are renamed, Roland and Ganelon feature from the very beginning. The episode of Bueves is completely surpressed. The entire tone is more refined: Renaud kills Bertholet with a sword, not the chessboard. Charlemagne does not strike Renaud, as he does in all traditional versions except DPA. Maugis found Baiard in an enchanted cave, and won Froberge from the Saracen king Antenor. Montessor is again identified with Chateau-Regnault. The traitor Hervis dies in battle instead of being hanged by Renaud. His treason at Montessor is not the cause for Renaud’s abandonment of the castle. Renaud thwarts it, and only some time later is he starved out. Maugis does not steal Charlemagne’s treasure, and Renaud actually forbids him to do so, etc. The love of Clarice and Renaud is treated at some length. At Vaucoleurs, Maugis does not need to learn from Clarice that his cousins are in peril, and he has no trouble mounting Baiard. Renaud is trying to persuade his brothers to surrender when Maugis arrives to save them. Charlemagne uses cannons and springalds against Montauban.

At the siege of Tremoigne, instead of the usual adventures, Charles takes a nap in the forest, Ganelon tries to kill him, and Renuad, passing by, saves him. Charles wakes up, and does not believe a word of Renaud’s account of what happened. Naimes advises Charles to settle the war through single combat, Renaud versus Ganelon. Charles sends Richier of Denmark, bastard brother of Ogier, to Ganelon, who tries to kill him. Richier flees to Ogier’s tent, who saves him. Renaud makes peace with Charles. When they meet, Renaud kneels for three hours before Charles deigns to speak to him. Since Baiard was not mentioned in the peace treaty, Charles confiscates him and tries to hang him, but Bairard kills three squires and escapes to the forest of Arden. (Maugis will find him there later). Maugis departs, and Renaud slips away by night. He works his way across Europe as a collier’s apprentice, then sails to Acre, where he falls sick of leprosy. Maugis, meanwhile, has found Baiard, and rides him to Rome, whence a cloud transports him to Acre. [This whole section, the traditional part of the poem, is actually abridged to 9,000 verses, as opposed to 13,400 in L. The rest of the poem, a mere 2,700 verses in L, is now 20,000.]

King Robastre has conquered Jerusalem and all Syria. Maugis cures Renaud, and they meet King Richier, who is obliged to dismiss them when Baiard kills some of his subjects. Maugis returns to France and gives Baiard to Charlemagne, who throws him into the Rhine. Baiard, the people say, escaped, and is still alive, and can be heard neighing once a year. The Roche Baiart in Ardennes is mentioned. After indecisive battles, Renaud arrives at Jerusalem. He meets King Malaquin, a vassal of Robastre, who introduces the two. Renaud is given the finest accommodations, promises to give his son Yonnet to Robastre’s daughter Eglantine if she converts, and announces his intent to convert Robastre and his son Durandal. He challenges them to a duel, and they agree to convert if he can defeat both of them. Robastre is slain, but Durandal surrenders and is baptized Baptamur. All his people convert. Renaud and Baptamur rout King Danemont of Angorie and baptize his daughter under the name of Sinamonde. She will later wed Aymonnet. Sinamonde restores the relics of the Passion to Renaud. Renaud is amazed that they were so carefully preserved. Baptamur explains that they were hoping to sell them back to the Christians. Danemont returns with a mighty coalition, including Berfuné who can turn himself invisible. Berfuné taunts Renaud by telling him that his sons have been accused of treason by the sons of Ripeus, but Renaud does not believe him. Renaud, Baptamur, and King Richier confront Berfuné, who summons to his aid his four fairy guardians: Morgue, Ydain, Genouivre, and Oriande – the same Oriande who raised Maugis! They are furious that he is fighting Christians, and beat him up until he converts. Danemont is soon after defeated. Renaud returns home, where his family at first refuse to believe a word of his story.

His sons have indeed been challenged by the four sons of Ripeus of Ribemont (the man who tried to hang Richardet), instead of the two sons of Foulques of Morillon, as in the old poem.

After he dies [I can’t find how], Clarisse sends word to Yonnet, who is reigning in Jerusalem with Eglantine, who sends word to Aymonnet. Clarisse dies soon afterward, in Tremoigne. The other three Sons and Maugis are killed by Ganelon in Naples. Yonnet arrives with a navy and army to wreak vengeance. Allied with Ogier and Naymes, he besieges Charles in Montlaon. Charles surrenders, and becomes Yonnet’s vassal, who returns to Jerusalem. The end.

MANUSCRIPT B: LONDON

Containing Renaud de Montauban in verse and prose, and La Mort Maugis in verse.

Not quite identical to R, but close enough for our purposes. The verse stops when an unnamed knight tells Charles that the Four Sons are living in Montessor. The rest is prose, but the prose of the traditional version, not the rhymed remaniement.

Renaud de Montauban, also called Les Quatre Filz Aymon, is the oldest (surviving) version of the adventures of Rinaldo and his family. It is an Old French chanson de geste in assonanced and rhymed alexandrines. There are at least two redactions of every part of the poem, but the eleven manuscripts switch from one redaction to the other with gay abandon, and no two MSS parallel each other’s switches exactly. They are listed here in roughly chronological order, followed by a summary of the story according to the oldest (surviving) MS.

D: Oxford Bodleian Douce 121. c. 1250. The oldest, though not in all respects a perfect representation of the original. Beginning missing down to the battle of Lohier’s and Bueves’ men. Contains only Renaud de Montauban. Printed by Jacques Thomas, under the title “Renaut de Montauban. Édition critique du manuscrit Douce”. Genève, Droz (Textes littéraires français, 371), 1989.

Z: Metz Municipale 192. 1250-1300. Contained only Renaud de Montauban. Ending lost, after Maugis’ departure from Montauban. Entire MS destroyed in the Second World War. Only portions were printed.

L: Paris Bib. Nat. fr. 24.387. Around 1300. Also known as La Valliere. Older sources mistakenly considered this the earliest manucript. Contains Renaud de Montauban and Li Romans de Sapience, which is a French verse translation of some parts of the Bible.Printed by Castets under the title “La chanson des quatre fils Aymon d’après le manuscrit La Vallière”. 1909.

M: Montpellier Fac. Medicine H. 247. Believed to be an abridgement of Z. 1350-1400. Contains Doon de Mayence, Gaufrey, Ogier le Danois, Gui de Nanteuil, Maugis D’Aigremont (abridged) Vivien l’Amachour (probably abridged, but no other copies are known), and Renaud de Montauban (abridged, ending lost, stops in the middle of one of Renaud’s battles in the Holy Land.)

V: Venice St. Mark fr. XVI. 1390 to 1400. Contains only Renaud de Montauban, last few pages lost. Ends abruptly as Renaud and Maugis prepare to battle the Saracens in the Holy Land.

H: Oxford Hatton 59. Three fragments. The first and third are unprinted, I believe. The second begins with the counsel of Yon and his barons before Valcoleurs, and ends I know not where. It was printed by Waltur Erdmann under the title “Fragment II der Oxforder Renaut-Handschrift Hatton 59 : Die an den Verrat der Haimonskinder bei Valkulur sich anschliessenden Scenen”. The third begins I know not where and ends with the drowning of Baiard, claiming that the story ends there.

Arlima, at the time of writing, wrongly lists Paris Arsenal 3151 and 5071-5073 as verse, when they are really in prose.

There are also comparative editions, giving all the manuscripts of a certain passage.
Of the Ardennes episode: Jacques Thomas’ “L’épisode ardennais de Renaut de Montauban. Édition synoptique des versions rimées”. From the arrival of the Four Sons at court to their departure for Gascony.
Of the treason of Vaucoleurs: Antonella Negri: “L’episodio di Vaucouleurs nelle redazioni in versi del “Renaut de Montauban””. 1996. From Charles’ sending of a messenger to King Yon to the arrival of Maugis at the Rock and his healing of Richard.
Of the drowning of Baiard: Jaques Thomas’ “La Sortie de Bayard selon les Differents Manuscrits en Vers et en Prose” in Romanica Gandensia XVIII: Etudes sur “Renaut de Montauban”.
Comparative editions of the siege of Tremoigne, the Pilgrimage, and the Martyrdom exist as unpublished theses in the University of Ghent and will probably never see the light of day. Support copyright reform!

M is a vast collection of romances from the Geste de Doon de Mayence, and its copy of Les Quatre Fils Aymon stands apart from all the others by reason of its extreme abridgement. Since the other two Renaud romances in this manuscript, the Maugis d’Aigremont and the Vivien de Monbranc, are also highly abridged, it is generally assumed that the abridgement was the work of an impatient scribe and was not an independent tradition.

A SUMMARY OF THE STORY ACCORDING TO DOUCE – THE OLDEST SURVIVING VERSION

MANUSCRIPT D: DOUCE

Containing only Renaut de Montauban.

There were four brothers: Girard of Roussillon, Doon of Nanteuil, Aymon of Dordonne, and Beuve of Aigremont. At Pentecost, Charlemagne summons to his court certain knights who had failed to help him in his war against the Saxon King Guitequin, where Baudoin died. One of these is Beuve of Aigremont. To him, therefore, the emperor sends his son Lohier as a messenger. Bueve and Lohier treat each other so insolently that a general melee breaks out in the city, and Lohier is slain. Beuve sends his corpse to Charles.

Meanwhile, Charles is fuming at court. Aymon offers his services to the king if war should break out, and Charles dubs Aymon’s sons Alard, Renaud, Guichard, and Richard knights. He gives Renaud the fairy horse Baiard (from Normandy), and the sword Froberge [Fusberta]. As they are tilting at the quintaine in the ensuing celebrations, the corpse of Lohier arrives. Charlemagne weeps, and Aymon and his sons quietly slip away to Dordonne.

Charlemagne sends Ogier as messenger to Bueve offering peace, but then sends Grifon de Hauteville and Foulques de Morrillon to ambush him on the road and kill him. It is done, and a few survivors escape to Aigremont, where Bueve’s son Maugis swears vengeance. Maugis goes to his uncles Girard and Doon, who lead their army into France, and are stopped at Troyes, where, after a battle with Charlemagne’s army, led by Richard of Normandy, they make peace. Charlemagne returns to Paris to celebrate, and among those assembled are Aymon, his children, and Maugis. Amidst the festivities, Renaud quarrels with the king’s nephew Bertholet over a game of chess. Bertholet strikes Renaud, who appeals to Charlemagne, who refuses to grant him justice, and so Renaut kills Bertholet with the chessboard. The Four Sons flee, Aymon disowns them, swears allegiance to Charles, and bars Dordonne against his sons, who flee to the forest of Ardennes, where they build a castle by the Meuse and name it Montessor.

Charlemagne lays siege to Montessor. At Naimes’ advice, he offers to raise the siege if the brothers will hand over Richard to be executed. They refuse, and begin to wait out the siege. At last, Renaud decides to sortie. Renaud fights Aymon, Charlemagne’s army retreats, and Renaud’s men return to Montessor with plunder. As winter draws nigh, Charles sends a traitor to Montessor to pretend to be a disaffected vassal of his. The traitor is warmly received, but opens the gates that night. The Four Sons must flee. They hide in the Forest of Arden. Charles returns home, as does Aymon. On his way to Dordonne, his sons approach him, but he is accompanied by one of Charles’ men, and so defies them. In the ensuing battle, all Renaud’s men save the brothers are slain. Aymon rides to Charles for reinforcements, is rebuffed, and returns to Dordonne. The brothers live in poverty in Arden, robbing passers-by. They barely survive the winter.

In spring they go as beggars to Dordonne, where they reveal themselves to their mother. Aymon, due to his oath, cannot give them supplies, but allows them to take as much as they need. Maugis arrives with treasure stolen from Charlemagne in Orleans, and the five head south.

In Gascony, the brethren take service with King Yon, and defeat for him an invading Saracen king named Begue. King Yon, in gratitude, gives them permission to build a castle not far from Dordogne, which they name Montauban. He also gives his sister Clarice to Renaud in marriage, and the happy couple have two sons, Aymonet and Yonnet.

But no happiness can last. Charlemagne, returning from a pilgrimage to Saint James, passes by Montauban, and is furious to learn that the Four Sons are alive and well. Charlemagne orders Yon to hand them over, and when he refuses, swears to return with all his army. First, however, he must defeat the Saxons, who are besieging Cologne. He sends his nephew Roland, who has just come to court for the first time and is looking to prove himself. Roland returns with glory, and Charles announces he will offer his crown as the prize of a horse race, with the intent to buy the winning horse for Roland. He sets Ogier, Naimes, and Fouques of Morillon to guard the south road, lest Renaud come. Maugis disguises Renaud and Baiard by magic, and Renaud pretends to be a Breton who speaks no French. The Peers do not recognize them, but their host does, and starts to run for Charlemagne, but Renaud kills him. He then wins the race, reveals himself, mocks Charles, and flees with his crown.

[Around here the poem changes from rhyme to assonance]

Charles comes into Gascony, and makes his headquarters at Monbendel, whence he sends messengers to Yon to plot treason. Yon is at first angry enough to try to hang the messenger, but his barons calm him and persuade him to hold a counsel. They overrule him and oblige him to agree to the treason. Yon tells the brethren that he has achieved peace with Charlemagne. The brethren are to wear red robes send by Charles and meet him unarmed in the field of Vaucoleurs. They do so, and Charles’ men fall on them. In the fight, they kill Foulques of Morillon, and then flee to the top of a rock, which is so constituted that the four of them can hold it against thousands. Ogier the Dane, however, the commander of Charles’ men, is cousin to the Sons and does not particularly wish to fight them. He sends a detachment to Montauban, ostensibly to capture Maugis, but really to alert him. Maugis arrives on Baiard, cures the wounds of his cousins, and they all escape. Yon, terrified, flees to a monastery, but Roland, who detests traitors, drags him therefrom, intending to hang him outside Montauban, which Charles is now besieging. Renaud’s brothers persuade him to rescue the King, and they do so. Renaud fights Roland in single combat, but the melee soon becomes general, and the Gascons retreat to the castle, not realizing Richard has been captured. When they do realize it, Maugis disguises himself as a pilgrim and sets out for Charlemagne’s camp, pretending to have been robbed by Maugis. He fools Charles and begins spying, and sees Roland arrive with his prisoner Richard. Maugis returns to Montauban with the news

Charlemagne wishes to hang Richard, but none of his barons are willing to carry out the execution, except Ripeus of Ripemont. Richard’s brothers lead their army and rescue him at the very foot of the gallows, slaying Ripeus despite his pleas for mercy. Richard dons Ripeus’ armor and goes to Charles’ camp, where he reveals himself to Ogier and Charles. Charles starts a fight, but Renaud comes to his brothers aid. He offers to hand over Montalban and Baiard to Charles, and go to the Holy Land with Maugis, but Charlemagne refuses. In the ensuing battle, Renaud trashes Charlemagne’s pavilion and steals the golden eagle that was on top of it. They return to Montalban, failing to realize that Maugis has been captured by Oliver. Charles wishes to hang Maugis at once, but Maugis persuades the Peers to stand as his securities until dawn. Maugis eats dinner at Charles’ table with a hearty appetite. Charles is too nervous to eat. At midnight, Maugis puts a spell on his guards, Charles, and the Paladins, breaks his chains, steals the royal crown and the swords of the Peers, awakens Charles to mock him, and flees to Montauban. An attempt at negotiation breaks down, even though Charles’ Peers are thoroughly sick of the war, and Roland, Ogier and Naimes actually go to Montauban and are received hospitably by Renaud. Charles continues the siege, and one night Maugis slips into Charles’ camp, puts him to sleep, and carries him off to Montauban, whence he (Maugis) departs in pilgrim’s clothes. He finds an abandoned hermitage near the Dordogne, where hs takes up residence.

[The poem changes from assonance to rhyme as Maugis is leaving]

In the morning, Richard wishes to hang Charles, but Renaud wishes to make peace, and lets Charles go. Charles, however, will not make peace until Maugis is dead and does not believe that Renaud has no idea where he is. Nonetheless, Renaud lets him go, and he resumes the siege, which lasts until the Four Sons are on the verge of starvation. They eat all the horses except Baiard. Aymon obtains permission to oversee Charles’ catapults and begins throwing his sons food. Charles finds out, puts a stop to it, and the Four Sons, Baiard, Yon, Clarice, Yonnet and Aymonet are soon the only ones left alive. Renaud cannot bring himself to kill Baiard, but he is obliged to bleed him. At last they flee by a secret passage and make their way to Dortmund, across the Rhine. The bells ring by themselves at Renaud’s arrival.

Charlemagne has taken Montauban, meanwhile, and is furious to find he has been tricked. He is implacable, and follows them to Dortmund to begin a third siege. Renaud offers to surrender, but Charles demands Maugis, who is not there. Maugis is at his hermitage, but worries about his cousins and goes to succor them at Montauban. Learning his error, he comes to Tremoigne. He passes through Charlemagne’s camp disguised as a pilgrim, and enters the city. The next day, Alard captures Charlemagne’s baron Richard of Normandy in battle. That night, Maugis goes to Charlemagne’s camp and captures his son Charlot by magic. He leaves him in Tremoigne and then departs for the Holy Land. Renaud prepares to hang the captives, whereupon Charlemagne is forced by his barons to agree to peace. Baiard will be surrendered to him, Renaud and Maugis will go on pilgrimage, and the other three brothers will be honored at court. Yon retires to a monastery, where he dies. Charlemagne throws Baiard into the Rhine, but the horse breaks its bonds, swims to safety, and flees. He will eventually find Maugis in Valfondee. Renaud leaves his sons in the care of Ogier, Tremoigne in the hands of Clarisse, and Montauban to his brethren, and departs.

He meets up with Maugis in Acre [Baiard is specifically stated to be absent.]. Maugis and Renaud help Geoffrey of Nazareth repel the Sultan of Persia, who is invading Jerusalem. They turn down the offer of the throne and return home. Maugis retires to a hermitage in the wilderness, and Renaud goes to court, where he learns that Clarisse is dead. Aymonet and Yonnet fight a duel against the sons of Foulques of Morillon, and win. Renaud’s brothers return to Montauban, and Renaud wanders for a time in the forest, occasionally staying at a monastery, until he comes to Cologne, where he offers his services to the masons who are building the Church of Saint Peter. Renaud lifts a stone which four other men cannot carry, does more work than ten other men can do, and only accepts enough wages as will buy him bread to eat and straw to sleep on. This goes on for some time, until the other masons, growing jealous, kill him and throw his body into the Rhine. But all the fish of the river hold the body up, and at nightfall torches appear around it and angels begin to sing. The murderers confess and are pardoned, and the archbishop goes to fetch the body, brings it into Saint Peter’s, and sings Mass over it. After the Mass, Renaud’s body is miraculously carried out of the church and into a cart, which travels of its own accord from Cologne to Tremoigne, where the bells sound on their own. His brothers arrive and weep over his body. God works many miracles at his tomb [they are not specified].

The Orlando Innamorato in English translation, Book I, Canto V, Stanzas 41-60 Notes

50. Guizard. One of Rinaldo’s brothers.Alard. Another brother.Ivon. The brother of Rinaldo’s wife Clarice, and lord of Gascony.
51. Lanfusa. Malagise’s mother, wife of Buovo, or Bevis, of Agremont.
52. Mongrana’s house. Another name for the house of Clairmont, to which Orlando, Rinaldo, Astolfo, and Malagise belong. [their fathers, Milo, Aymon, Otto, and Buovo, are four brothers].
53. Suicide is a mortal sin, and Rinaldo will go to Hell if he commits it deliberately while of sound mind.

The Orlando Innamorato in English translation, Book I, Canto IV, Stanzas 1-20 Notes

1. When Orlando was a youth, he went on pilgrimage to Compostella, where Saint James gave him three gifts. The first was to be invincible everywhere save the soles of his feet, the second was that no one would be able to stand against him in battle longer than three days. The third I cannot remember, nor can I track down the book relating it.
Orlando will eventually slay Ferraguto shortly before the battle of Roncesvalles. Chiaro, or Claron, is the son of Milone and the nephew of Girart d’Eufrate. Although Chiaro and Orlando fought side by side in the battle of Aspremont, Girart later rebelled against Charlemagne. The war was to be settled by a duel between Orlando and Chiaro. Orlando killed Chiaro, which caused Girart to turn pagan and flee to Africa. This story may be found in the Italian versions of Aspromont; it is not in any French source.
4. Samite. Silk.
8. Fiordespina. Sister of Matalista. She will be of some importance near the end of the poem.Thy good sire. Ferraguto is the son of Falsirone and Lanfusa. Falsirone is the brother of King Marsilio of Spain.
9. Gradasso, in case you have forgotten, is Boiardo’s invention. The location of Sericane is unknown. Some say between India and Tartary, some in south-east China, some between China and the Himalayas.
14. Charlemagne, according to the romances, married Gallerana, sister of Marsilius and daughter of King Galafre, after he spent some time at the Spanish court in his youth, due to his half-brothers Haufrey and Henri conspiring to exile him. The only French romance to treat of these adventures is the fragmentary Mainet, though it is often alluded to in the Italian poems, and Haufrey and Henri reappear in Valentine and Orson and in Bertha Broadfoot. Needless to say, all of this is legendary. The real Charlemagne had four wives and many mistresses, but none of them were Spanish. He never was in that country except on the ill-fated expedition that ended with Roncesvalles, and nothing is known of his youth.
19. Ivon. Perhaps the Duke of Gascony whose sister Clarice is married to Rinaldo. Perhaps just a name.Angelin. Of Bordeaux. The Engelier of Bordeaux of The Song of Roland.

The best online heraldry generator I know. Follows the proper rules of heraldry, and even writes the technical description for you.

The Book of Romance

The Book of Romance

Roland and Oliver; William of Orange;
King Arthur and Robin Hood.
These and many more knights are in this book, by the master of folklore, Andrew Lang.

The Red Romance Book

The Red Romance Book

Bevis of Hampton; Huon of Bordeaux;
Ogier the Dane, Amis and Amilon;
Bradamante and Ruggiero.
These and many more knights are in this book, by the master of folklore, Andrew Lang.

The Romance of the Rose

The Romance of the Rose

The definitive book on Courtly Love, in a beautiful printing of a beautiful translation.

Aucassin and Nicolette

Aucassin and Nicolette

The most beautiful of all romances of chivalry, in a beautiful new printing of its most beautiful translation, by the great Andrew Lang. Also includes the original music to which the verse portions were sung, which few editions have.

Morien

Erec and Enide

Erec and Enide

The first, and one of the best, Arthurian romances, with beautiful illustrations by Gustave Dore.

Reynard the Fox

Reynard the Fox

One of the comic masterpieces of the Middle Ages, in the liveliest and most rollicking of its several English translations. If you were disappointed in Patricia Terry's or James Simpson's versions, it deserves another chance in a good retelling.